hi doc, i thank God so much for ur life. i pray that God will bless u all the days of ur life. doc, my question is about oraquick testing. i hear that oraquick is about 99% accurate. well i had a friend some few months ago and i love her so much. we discussed marriage until something happened. a friend of mine who works at a lab adviced me to perform hiv test on the lady before getting married. i discussed with her and she said it ok. the friend gave us the oraquick kit to use for the testing but i realised that the expiry date on the wrapper was expired and when i took the wrapper off i saw the expiry date on the container that contains the solution, was also expired and there was an inscription boldly on it that reads 'do not use this associated pouch after this expiry date'. i told my friend who gave it to me but he said whether it is expired or not, it will still work once the control line is shown. doc, i went ahead to use on my lady and unfortunately it read positive. for me to be sure, i used another kit which is also expired on my 12year old brother and it turned to be negative. how can i rly on this? am so scared. before this we have had protected sex twice and receiving blow job for about 3 times. if she is really positive, will i be infected. i hate testing and this is my first exposure. pls advice me.

ps; pls doc, the blowjob on 3 occasions were unprotected, am i still at risk? should i test anyway?

Response from Dr. Frascino

Hello,

Outdated OraQuick tests are not valid. Also, even if your girlfriend tests positive on an OraQuick test, it would only be considered preliminarily positive. A follow-up more specific test, such as a Western Blot, would need to be performed and be positive before she would be considered a true positive. I would suggest as your next step you both go to a testing center or physician's office and get properly tested. If your girlfriend is confirmed to be HIV positive, write back and I'll discuss your HIV-acquisition risks. In the meantime, continue to use latex condoms for penetrative sex.

This forum is designed for educational purposes only, and experts are not rendering medical, mental health, legal or other professional advice or services. If you have or suspect you may have a medical, mental health, legal or other problem that requires advice, consult your own caregiver, attorney or other qualified professional.

Experts appearing on this page are independent and are solely responsible for editing and fact-checking their material. Neither TheBody.com nor any advertiser is the publisher or speaker of posted visitors' questions or the experts' material.

The Body is a service of Remedy Health Media, LLC, 750 3rd Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017. The Body and its logos are trademarks of Remedy Health Media, LLC, and its subsidiaries, which owns the copyright of The Body's homepage, topic pages, page designs and HTML code. General Disclaimer: The Body is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional services. The information provided through The Body should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or a disease. It is not a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, consult your health care provider.